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Tag: black and white photos

No, see right here, the lights should stay on even if one bulb goes out. They can also play Jingle Bells.

Jan Wilson, it’s been a long wait, but you can now claim the honor of being our last captioner of 2010 and our first declared winner of 2011. President Truman was a practical (and frugal) guy, so why wouldn’t he be able to step up and give tips on Christmas tree gadgetry?

As far as we know, though, on the occasion on which this picture was taken, the lights on the National Christmas Tree went on just as planned. This picture from from the Harry Truman Library is dated December 24, 1945—it’s interesting that the lighting took place so late in the season.

For this new contest, we turn to another President. Inspired by the 50th anniversary of JFK’s inauguration this month, we resume the Thursday photo caption contest with a picture from the John F. Kennedy Library.

Insert your caption!

So now that we all have had time to recover from the holidays, get those brain cells working and give us your best so we can give you 30% off at the National Archives eStore. Start captioning right now in the comments section.… [ Read all ]

Lynn Ansfield, with her short, historically on-the-nose caption took the top honors in the last photo caption contest. Congrats, Lynn, you’ve won 30% off at the National Archives eStore just in time for the holidays!

It’s the first week of December, and some parts of the country have already had significant snowfall. Here’s a photo to get you in the mood for wintry fun. Give us your best, and we’ll give you 30% off your next purchase at the Archives eStore!

"Gerald's ideas about postmodern camouflage systems were not well received."

Zebras, Fruit Stripes gum mascot, firing squads, post modernism . . . what a compendium of cunning captioning! Mr. Tom Mills was up all night last night poring over each comment with a keen eye toward hilarity and utter genius and has selected last week’s winner. In the end Keith Ramsey was dubbed the Captionista who captured our judge’s flare for funny.

But what was that postmodern fashion icon doing in front of that wall? Great question. The original caption for this 1917 photo reads: “Soldier in black and white uniform to conceal him while climbing trees. He stands in front of a house camouflaged to represent a fence and trees. Company F, 24th Engineers. American University, D.C. Army Engineer Corps.”

While this week’s photo doesn’t involve the niche fence-camouflage market, it does have something in common with last week’s image: it makes no sense. Our guest judge this week is the esteemed, indefatigable chief of the Archives II Textual Records Reference Staff, Tim Nenninger. Victory in the ring will get you 30% off at the National Archives e-Store and a week’s supply of bragging rights.

So readers, lend us thy captions!

Insert your caption!

Here’s something to get you started:

“Mr. Poppins was called in after the spoonful of sugar proved ineffective.”

It’s time to “spill” the beans on who won last week’s contest. While we had more fun than a “barrel” of monkeys reading through your comments, settling on a winner was a “sobering” task. We loved Gabby’s “There was some confusion at the onset of the invention of the ‘kegger’ to what exactly the purpose of this activity was. Many years later, it would still receive mixed reviews from the neighbors,” and any reference to a 200-foot-tall space alien master (Bob S.) we enjoy, but ultimately it was Rebecca who took the cake (and 30% eStore discount!). Her comment is below the image at left.

As most of you guessed, this photo was from Prohibition, 1931 to be precise. The original caption reads “Los Angeles authorities emptying barrels of rum, 1931.” Two years later, in 1933, the 21st Amendment would end Prohibition, becoming the only amendment to repeal a previous one (so far).

While Prohibition may be over, our arsenal of strange is still plenty full here at the Archives. This week we’ve pulled out a particularly peculiar picture for pontification, so stretch out that funny bone and submit your comments! You never know who will be guest judging!

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